The Supreme Court’s new order list this morning includes new cert grants in five cases, one of which will interest sentencing fans. Specifically, McKinney v. Arizona, No. 18-1109, involves questions of how a death sentence is to be reviewed. SCOTUSblog coverage of the case has all the cert stage briefs linked (including a number of amici briefs), and here is the Questions Presented from the cert petition:
1. Whether the Arizona Supreme Court was required to apply current law when weighing mitigating and aggravating evidence to determine whether a death sentence is warranted.
2. Whether the correction of error under Eddings v. Oklahoma, 455 U.S. 104 (1982), requires resentencing.
And here is how Arizona’s brief in opposition describes the issues in the case:
1. Whether the Arizona Supreme Court erred in concluding that, because Petitioner’s convictions and sentences on two counts of first-degree murder became final several years before this Court decided Ring v. Arizona, 536 U.S. 584 (2002), that Ring did not apply to Petitioner.
2. Whether the Arizona Supreme Court erred in conducting an independent review of Petitioner’s death sentences.
Any Supreme Court decision about how Ring claims are to be sorted through on appeal should impact not only death sentence in Arizona, but also in Florida and perhaps a few other states. So McKinney could end up a pretty big deal.